British government denies that Ukraine could use missiles provided to attack Russian territory

UKRAINE, July 12 – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, arriving in Washington for the NATO summit, had earlier said Ukraine could use British Storm Shadow missiles to attack military targets deep inside Russia. But today, a day after the summit, Britain denied this, The Telegraph reported, citing the British Ministry of Defence.

Some European countries such as France, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Netherlands have already given Ukraine permission to use its weapons against Russia, but America is still “hesitating”.

According to the British Ministry of Defense, the British government’s policy on the use of Storm Shadow missiles (precision-guided cruise missiles with a range of over 250 kilometers) has not changed. The Ukrainian armed forces are only allowed to use them on the mainland and the temporarily occupied Crimea.

“The UK was forced to clarify that it had not given Ukraine permission to use Storm Shadows to carry out attacks inside Russia, in a diplomatically delicate moment for Sir Keir Starmer,” The Telegraph reported.

Officials fear that such a move could escalate the war and drag Britain into conflict with Russia.

The journalists’ sources also said that Zelensky would “seek assurances elsewhere” before Britain authorizes the launch of missiles into Russian territory.

They added that Ukraine has not yet used these weapons this year and that permission to attack depends not only on Britain but also on third countries, including France, which also produces the Storm Shadow missiles.

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• The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on June 12 that Ukrainian forces attacked one S-300 air defense battery and two S-400 air defense batteries near occupied Belbek and Sevastopol in Crimea overnight.